Faith
by Shadow Vivian
Summary: When a girl from the real world shows up, Peach fears it might make the Mario Bros' want to return home.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Faith

**Author:** The Corpse Bride

**Summary:** When a girl from the real world shows up, Peach fears it might make the Mario Bros' want to return home.

**Characters:** The characters you recognise are not mine, they belong to the amazing folk who created them and allow us to see their world. I am not making money from this. The characters you don't recognise are mine and are merely there to 'clog up the pipes' of the lives of the characters you do recognise, ha ha.

**Author's notes:** The idea for this came from one of the Super Mario Bro's cartoons. Can't remember which one though, but the Bro's bump into another plumber (whom for some reason is their Idol, despite disappearing and looking odd) who has a way they can return to Brooklyn. Luigi wanted to go home so therefore they decided to go. Low and behold, the Princess gets kidnapped in front of them just as they're about to leave. The brothers go back to save her while the other plumber leaves. Therefore they stay with the Princess and Toad! I decided to use the going home concept, but use a female character to put the cat amongst the pigeons! So there you have it!

**Chapter 1**

Just off the coast of the United Kingdom a young woman standing on the stern of a small boat. Standing with her eyes closed she stood with the wind blowing in her hair and the smell of the fresh air filling her with the most sensational feeling. As she opened her eye's she watched as the small waves gently crashed into the side of the boat. It would be so easy to jump and end it all in the icy depths below, but that would be the easy way out. The young woman barely twenty-five was enjoying her final moments of silence and tranquillity before her whole world changed. She waited patiently for a short time before two men approached her.

"Girl! Get here now!" Beckoned the shorter and rounder man. The girl turned round and walked over to them. Bowing down when she was in front of them.

"Prepare to drop the anchor," Sneered the man. The girl obediently did as she was told. As she was preparing for the anchor to be dropped she shivered at the thought of what they were going to make her do. The men had commandeered a boat with the necessary diving equipment in order to go in search of some legendary treasure.

The deck on the ship was wet and slippy, the girl treaded carefully.

"This is so ridiculous, legendary treasure indeed," She muttered to herself.

"Faith!" One of the men beckoned making her jump. It surprised her so much she slipped over and fell overboard. Before she hit the water below she managed to grab onto the rope from the anchor, which she was supposed to be getting ready. Trying not to panic she tried to wing herself back on board the ship but found it was too much of a task. Her last resort was to call for help.

"Barry! Rhys! Help me!" after a few moments of yelling for help the two men known as Barry and Rhys finally came to her aide. But before they rescued her they mocked her a little first. Unfortunately for Faith they spent a little too long mocking her and her grip on the rope loosened. Suddenly she felt herself falling down to the cold waters below. As soon as she felt contact with the water the ice coldness ripped through her body giving her a sharp unwanted shock. Frantically she tried to stay afloat. Rhys and Barry were now just a blur to her. Eventually she started to loose the fight to stay above the water and started to sink slowly.

Starting to slip into unconsciousness Faith waited for death to take her. As she closed her eyes for what she assumed was the final time the last thing she saw was a black circular hole. After that she saw nothing and felt nothing.  
--

A world away the Princess Peach Toadstool was out walking in her garden, her long-term partner Mario, his brother Luigi and Toadsworth, accompanied her. The sun was shining brightly and everyone was in a good mood. The days festivities came to a halt when Peach's retainer Toad came running over to them and repeated tripped over his feet in the process. Toad was so excited about something and it took peach a while to calm the little fungus down.

"Toad calm down! What's the matter?" Peach asked. Toad breathed slowly and told Peach everything.

"There's a girl! A young girl! About your age!" Toad said loudly. Everyone looked at him oddly.

"Toad there are many girls in the Mushroom Kingdom" Mario said.

"Not from the real world there isn't!" Toad exclaimed. Mario and Luigi exchanged looks. Toadsworth looked sceptic, but Peach looked startled.

"How can this be Toad? The warp pipe that Mario and Luigi came down has since been destroyed?" Peach asked.

"There's another one. She came out all soaked and unconscious. Madam Fungi is looking after her right now. You must come!" Toad said. Peach nodded and told the Mario brothers to go with her.

When they reached Madam Fungi's home Peach grew a little anxious. Aside from Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi there had never been any other person from the real world. She didn't know what to expect.

Madam Fungi welcomed them all in and insisted that they sat down while she went over a few things.

"The girl is most definitely from the real world. We're not sure how she found her way here but she isn't in a great condition. The local authorities are coming round later to decipher what to do with her," Madam Fungi said.

"How did she take to seeing mushroom people?" Luigi asked. Remembering his first time in the Mushroom Kingdom.

"Not good I'm afraid. She freaked out and we had to use the tranquillising spores on her to calm her down" Madam Fungi explained grimly.

"Maybe if I went to talk to her. Luigi can come with me," Peach said. Madam Fungi nodded, but Mario looked offended.

"Why Luigi and not me?" He asked. Peach placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled warmly.

"You found it easy to settle here. Luigi didn't," Peach replied. Mario nodded and sat down. Madam Fungi showed Peach and Luigi where the girl was. When they entered the room, the girl was sitting on a chair with a vacant expression. Her long brown hair was ragged and she was pale in complexion. The only movement she mad came when Luigi and Peach moved closer towards her.

Peach and Luigi exchanged glances. Neither of them knew how to begin. A moment's silence passed by before Peach took the first step. Gingerly she walked over to the girl and smiled encouragingly.

"Hello, my names Peach" She said, leaving out the Princess bit just in case it sent her even further into her shell. The girl looked up to Peach's warm face and felt compelled to talk back.

"I-I'm Faith"

Peach smiled and beckoned Luigi to come over.

"Ok Faith, this is Luigi," Luigi smiled and said hello.

"How did you get here Faith?"

"I'm not sure. One minute I was in the water and loosing consciousness and the next I was here...where ever here is," Faith said with a puzzled expression. Peach smiled.

"This is the Mushroom Kingdom, a different world to the one you know"

"Right so let me get this straight? I am in a totally different world with fungus people?" Faith asked in disbelief. This was on random dream, or maybe she was dead and this was the afterlife. Peach nodded.

"Am I dead?" She asked. Thinking being dead would be a reasonable excuse.

"No"

"Oh" Faith paused a moment thinking. This was weird.

"So how will I get back to my world then?" She asked. Luigi was the one to answer this question.

"We don't know. We're not sure where you came from. See if you go back through the warp pipe you will go back into the water ad will most likely drown,"

"Warp pipe?" Faith didn't understand what he meant.

"It's a big green pipe thing, it's what probably transported you here,"

"I See"

"You do?"

"No, but carry on" Faith said looking sheepish.

"Any way, the warp pipe that brought me and my brother here has been long since destroyed. Blocking our return to the real world" Luigi said. Peach winced at the last sentence. The Mario brothers' going home was her worst nightmare.

"So I can't go home?" Faith asked.

"We don't know yet," Peach said, not wanting to pour water on her hopes. Faith looked from Peach to Luigi and thought about something. Not going back wasn't necessarily a bad thing. She wouldn't have to return to Barry and Rhys for one thing.

"Ok...but what will I do and where will I go?" Faith asked, slightly worried as to what would happen to her.

"You can stay with me, in my castle" Peach said. Faith gawked at her. Did she just say castle?

"Castle?"

"Uh huh"

"O...K"

"She's taking it all much better then you did Luigi"

"Wait till she sees the Goomba's" Luigi said feeling a little bashful.

"Goomba's?" Faith repeated.

"Little brown annoying things with no arms" Luigi said flapping his arms trying to do an impression of a Goomba. Peach rolled her eyes.

"Any way I suppose we best get you to my castle" Peach said. Faith nodded. Getting off her chair she followed Peach and Luigi out of the room. The first people they came too was Madam Fungi and a fatter version of Luigi, only in red.

"Faith, Mario, Mario, Faith" Peach introduced them. With the introductions done, the foursome bid Madam Fungi farewell and set off towards Peach's castle. Faith didn't say much as they walked, she just kept thinking how surreal it all was. Warp pipes, castles, mushroom folk and things called Goomba's. Whatever next.

It would have been easy for Faith to freak out and panic, or even do something rash, but she decided the best thing to do was to ride out the randomness and see what would happen.


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome to the second chapter of Faith. Hope you enjoy it. Disclaimer is on the first chapter.

**Chapter 2**

The foursome walked down the pathway that leads to Madam Fungi's home, Faith lagged slightly behind. She was trying to take everything in all at once, which was hard when people kept dragging you every time you stopped. The last time she stopped was when she was a beautiful flower standing alone at the side of the path. The flower had a unique presence about it that Faith found hard to ignore. Bending down to inspect it closer she moved her hand forward to touch it.

"It's a fire flower, don't touch it" Mario said, but it was too late. Faith connected with the flower and felt a tingling sensation. Glancing down at her clothes she saw they had changed colour. Her tattered dark blue jeans where now a white colour and her torn light pink t-shirt was now a darker shade of purple. Gasping at the transformation she looked up at Mario and the others.

"A fire flower? What's it done to me? How long have I got to live? Is there a cure?" She said frantically. Mario laughed. Luigi stifled a giggle.

"You'll be fine. They're a form of weapon-" Peach started to tell her, but Faith wasn't really listening. She lifted her hands and suddenly she started to get a warm feeling in the palm of her hand. In a split second a ball of fire appeared in her palm. The sight of fire in her bare hand caused her to shriek in shock and panic. Waving her hand about in an attempt to rid her of the flame she was sending fireballs in ever direction. They just wouldn't go and every time she got rid of one another came back. Peach and Mario had dived behind some fencing in order to avoid the fireballs. Luigi lay on the ground and covered his head. Faith was still throwing fireballs and was still shrieking as though in pain. As she shrieked Mario crawled along the floor so he could get behind her. When he felt it safe to advance he jumped up and grabbed Faith from behind, preventing her from wafting her arms and hands about.

"Faith calm down! They can't hurt you" Mario said reassuringly. Not being able to move properly Faith took a deep breath and waiting for the searing pain that the fireballs would leave. The pain never came.

"Oh" She whispered. Mario slowly let go. Looking at the hand in which the fireballs appeared she saw that the balls themselves left no mark or proof that they had touched her palm. Upon realising that Faith was now under control Peach and Luigi resurfaced from where they had either hid or been lying.

Feeling a bit silly Faith apologised for her outburst and they all set off again. It wasn't long before she was dawdling again. This time floating blocks caught her eye. Mario rolled his eyes and dragged her away.

"What are they for?" Faith asked.

"You hit them with your head and coins come out of them, or sometimes stars, feathers, carrots, fire flowers-" Faith grimaced " and even mushrooms"

Faith nodded and allowed herself to be lead away. Peach and Luigi were slightly ahead of Faith and Mario, who was doing his best to make sure Faith didn't lag too far behind. Every so often she was glance around and stare at things in sheer amazement. They passed clouds that had smiley faces and angular hills on the horizon. As she looked around she saw something in the distance, three small shapes where approaching them. At first she thought nothing of it but when they came closer she saw that they were small beings. The small beings were a brown colour and had no arms. Thinking that it was a peculiar being she couldn't help but thinking that they were sort of familiar. Then it hit her; they were familiar in an odd sort of sense. They were the things described to her by Luigi.

"Hey Mario!" Faith said.

"We'll look at what ever it is later, we need to get to the castle first" Mario said, not feeling the need to explain something else to her.

"Mario! We are being followed" Faith said loudly. Mario ignored her but Luigi, ever paranoid, turned round and saw that she was right.

"M-Mario! Look! Goomba's!" He shouted, whilst pointing. Mario and Peach whirled round to see three Goomba's approaching them.

"Awwh Just what we need" Mario said.

"Three Goomba's no problem," Peach said. Mario agreed, but Luigi wasn't so sure.

The Goomba's approached and grinned menacingly at Mario. Mario sorted him out by jumping on him. Faith was horrified by what Mario did. Luigi jumped on the 2nd. She watched as Mario headed for the third and final one. Feeling the impulse to do something crazy Faith ran over to the third and stood in front of the Goomba. Mario stopped dead in his tracks and eyed Faith with confusion.

"Faith what are you doing?" he asked. Peach and Luigi looked on, equally baffled by Faith.

"I will not let you harm this poor creature thing," Faith said with the innocence of a small child in possession of a bug. Mario stared at her incredulously.

"But they try to kill us" He argued.

"But your waaaay bigger then he is!" Faith said as she scooped up the wriggling Goomba.

"Besides, he's cute" She said as she smiled down at the Goomba in her hands. He piped back at her, earning him a tight cuddle in return. Mario slapped his forehead in exasperation.

"I'm going to call him Ethan" Faith cooed. Without saying a word Mario walked past Peach and Luigi who shrugged. The three remaining people and the Goomba followed Mario on towards Peach's castle.

Conversation was very limited until the very point where Peach's castle came into view. Faith nearly dropped Ethan on the floor as she stared at the castle.

"Wow, it's like a dream castle. Or one you see in fairytales" Faith murmured to herself. Peach heard her and smiled proudly.

"It is a dream castle isn't it?"

Just as they were about to carry on walking, something came out of nowhere and snatched Ethan out of Faiths hands. She screamed as what ever it was felt warm and slimy when it touched her hand. Turning round she saw a green dinosaur with a random dress sense standing near her with his mouth full. Storming over to the dinosaur she banged him on the head and the dinosaur spat out Ethan who was crying with fear.

"Ouch! What was that for?" The Dinosaur said, looking offended.

"You ate my little Ethan!" Faith said pouting.

"Who are you?" The dinosaur said looking at Faith as if she was an alien.

"Since when did dinosaurs talk" Faith whispered to Luigi.

"Faith meet Yoshi, our resident waste disposal unit, Yoshi meet Faith, our umm Goomba protection person" Luigi said. Yoshi nodded but said nothing after that.

"Where did she come from?" Yoshi said rudely, still smarting from the blow to the head.

"She has a name," Faith said.

"She came from the real world" Peach said, ignoring the remarks passed from Faith to Yoshi.

Faith picked up Ethan and once again they carried on walking to Peach's castle. Once they got there Faith was in awe. The castle was so beautiful, with its white walls and the stained glass window's featuring Peach herself. Inside it was just as beautiful was its fine decor; no wonder Peach liked it here. Peach lead her guest and three friends into her kitchen, knowing that Mario was hungry and Faith would more then likely be in need of food too. So there they sat at the table eating a small snack that Peach's cook prepared in no time for them.

"I must say you're taking it all in rather well," Peach said to Faith. Faith smiled.

"It'll take some getting used to though," Faith said. Mario and Luigi looked up at her.

"Does that mean you will be staying?" Mario asked, fearing she would say yes.

"Probably" Faith said whilst looking at Ethan.

"Won't you miss the real world?" Luigi asked. Faith appeared to ponder this question for a moment or two.

"I suppose I will for a little while, you know. But then there isn't much there for me too miss," Faith said dismissively.

"I missed loads of things when first I came here" Said Luigi fiddling about with his fork.

"Like what?" Faith asked. Peach looked up but said nothing.

"Well, things like the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn life. The food and the people. I miss my old friends who I probably will never see again. All them kind of things. But I like it here so it's not too much of a problem," Faith nodded to his response.

"I wonder if anyone actually cared about our disappearance?" He added in his head.

"Any way! Let's talking about something else!" Said Peach in an oddly cheerful voice. The others agreed.

"You can stay here tonight Faith, but tomorrow we'll see if we can find you some accommodation" Peach told Faith.

Faith went to sleep that night in Peach's guest room. The bed was so comfy she had no trouble falling to sleep. Her dreams were happy and peaceful as she waited for the morning to come.


	3. Chapter 3

It's taken me a while to write this, I had actually forgotten about it until recently, so there you go. I'm a bit dense. Here's the third chapter straight up!

Faith Chapter 3

Faith awoke the next morning to a sharp rap on the door. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She glanced around her room and yawned.

"Come in?" She called, timidly. The oak door opened and in walked Peach with a smile. Something about Peach's smile comforted Faith.

"Morning Faith!" She said cheerfully. Peach called out to someone else. Faith was a little confused until she spotted two small fungi like people enter her rooms. Each fungi person held a small tray that held food.

One of the fungi was obviously a female; she had a pink mushroom hat with white spots and wore an equally bright pink dress. She carried toast on her tray, complete with what Faith guessed as preserves.

The other fungi was a male with a white hat with red spots, he wore white trousers and a purple jacket. He carried a tray with a drink and almost spilt it when he spotted Faith for the first time.

"Faith this is Toad and Toadette, very dear friends of mine, guys this is Faith," Peach introduced.

"You should get some breakfast down you and Toadette will find you some of my more casual wear. Then we shall progress to your temporary home. You will stay there until we find a way for you to get back home," Peach told her.

Faith nodded in understanding and then Peach and Toad left. Toadette stayed behind and rummaged through random draws whilst Faith ate her breakfast. Faith watched Toadette, who seemed to be making quite a mess as she through clothes around, making quite sounds as she found dissatisfying clothes.

Eventually Toadette jumped up in glee, she had found a suitable outfit for Faith to wear. She turned to Faith and held out a pair of black trousers and a dark purple t-shirt.

"Peach never wears these," Toadette said shaking her head. Faith figured it was because they were probably more of a depressing nature to that Peach was used to.

"Think they'll fit?" Faith asked. Toadette nodded.

"You're about the same size as Peach," She said. Toadette was just right, Faith slipped into her new attire. Toadette found a mirror and Faith examined her self. She smiled; the clothes fit her well.

When they were finished Toadette lead Faith down to the Study, where they found Peach awaiting their arrival. Faith noticed that she was not alone. Mario and Luigi along with Toad once again accompanied peach. All three greeted her enthusiastically.

Faith smiled back at them all. Then something occurred to her. There was something missing and she thought it over. Then she realised something was missing. She looked over at Luigi who grinned. Down by his feet sat a small brown Goomba.

"Ethan!" Cried Faith. She held out her arms and Ethan ran over to her.

Within the hour Peach had taken Faith, Mario and Luigi out in her Heart Coach. They were all going to see Faiths temporary accommodation. The journey it's self was rather quiet. No one spoke. Faith kept herself amused by playing and cuddling with Ethan. Mario and Luigi watched her with bemused expressions.

Peach was also watching Faith. The way she talked about the real world bothered Peach. Even if Faith never said anything nice about the real world it still would be a topic that reminded the Mario brothers about their old home. Peach found herself worrying about Mario. If he remembered the good things about Brooklyn, then he was sure to want to leave. She wouldn't be able to go with them and she would be alone.

Fretting about Mario leaving made her feel sick inside. She loved him dearly but never found the courage to tell him so. After years of being kidnapped by Bowser, being rescued by Mario and playing the thankful Princess she had fallen into a zone of comfort. Mario was always going to be there and he was her hero, so she had never really needed to think further on.

However Faith changed things. She would make Mario and Luigi remember the good times in the real world. It would probably spur Luigi on more, but Mario wouldn't be parted from his brother so it was inevitable really.

If Faith hadn't turned up none of these insecurities would have arose. If Faith were to go back then it would all be over. They must find a way for Faith to go home.

"Peach?" Peach looked at Mario.

"Peach we've stopped, we're here," He said. Peach nodded. She couldn't look at him.

She nodded and averted her eyes. She stood up and gracefully left the Heart Coach. The coach had stopped right in front of a small house. It wasn't really a small house in fact, it only seemed small in comparison to it's overly large neighbour.

Faith thought the smaller house seemed a lot more pleasant then it's neighbouring building. She hoped that this was going to be her temporary home. She turned round to see where the others were headed when she noticed that Luigi seemed to be a bit fidgety.

"Luigi?" Peach had noticed to. He looked at her, starting to quiver now.

"Why here? Of all places, why?" He asked shakily. Faith looked at him oddly.

"Because it's vacant Luigi," Peach explained.

"But…." He started to protest. Faith wanted to hear what he was about to say, after all she was going to stay here.

A loud yelp from the large house prompted the four people to turn round and watch as a small toad was thrown from the houses door and the poor toad bounced along the garden path. A door was slammed and the toad got up. He dusted his self down and made to leave the property.

He spied Peach and the others and instantly went over to them.

"What was the about?" Mario asked, Faith got the impression he was ready to do some serious damage when he clenched his fists.

"Unreasonable they are! All I ask is that they behave like civilised people and that they keep the noise down," The toad said breathlessly.

"Is that why they threw you down the garden?" Peach asked. The toad looked at her in mild surprise.

"You call that a garden!" He asked. Faith looked over the garden in question. She had to agree with him, it looked more like a jungle.

"I'm moving. Living next door to them is unbearable," He stated flatly. He seemed to be irritated. Faith felt a little bit sadden by this. It was obvious that this toad was on the other side of the large house. She would probably have the same problems with its owners.

"Do we have to stay?" Luigi asked, still looking frightened.

"Luigi we came to see Faith settled," Mario said.

After the toad gave them a rushed goodbye, Peach led them up the garden path to the small house. She brandished a key and then let them all in. The inside of the house was a little shabby which Peach seemed dismayed at.

"I am so sorry, I'm afraid it'll have to do until we find something better," Peach said.

"All it needs is a little cleaning and it'll be perfect for me and little Ethy!" Faith squealed. Mario and Luigi looked at each other and stifled a laugh.

"Ethy?" Mario questioned. Faith nodded with a grin.

"Wanna see the back garden?" Peach asked, trying to remain serious even though the idea of a Goomba with a nickname was rather funny. Faith agreed happily and they all went out to see the back garden.

It was a rather large garden. It was a little un-kept and was over run with wild flowers. Faith quite liked the wild flowers; there was an array of bright vibrant colours, pinks, purples, blues and reds. Faith thought it was actually quite beautiful.

Faith let Ethan leave her grip and allowed him to go into the garden. Faith then turned round to talk to Peach and thank her.

"Hey! Whose the broad?" Came a voice from over the fence. Luigi jumped and cowered behind Mario. Faith and Peach whirled round to see who it was.

A tall man stood behind the fence, a sneer etched on his face. Faith disliked him instantly.

"Who's the weirdo?" Faith whispered a little too loudly. Peach laughed. Mario stood with his back straight.

"Faith meet your new and annoying neighbour, Waluigi," Mario said in a bored tone.

"New neighbour huh? We'll see how long this one lasts," Waluigi said with a sly grin.

"Why? Did your last neighbour die of boredom?" Faith asked with a smirk. Luigi muttered something about leaving it but Faith ignored him. She wasn't allowed to let her new neighbour rile her.

"Can I hear that moronic plumber boy?" Came a second voice from beyond the fence, however Faith couldn't see whom the voice belonged to.

"Why don't you get a stool to stand on then Wario?" Shouted Mario. Peach sighed.

"Give it a rest boys," Peach said.

Faith jumped in surprise when a second face peered over the fence. The second person was much wider then the first but she could tell they were some how related. She guessed that this was Wario, whom Mario directed his comment at.

"Oh look, he has a boyfriend," Faith said in a sweet voice. Peach grabbed hold of Faiths hand and started to drag her indoors. Mario and Luigi followed. As they went back inside they heard a warning come from Wario.

"Watch out neighbour,"

Peach rolled her eyes.

"Maybe you better stay here with her Mario, just for tonight," Peach said, feeling a little saddened by the idea.

She needed Faith to keep out of trouble and Luigi wasn't exactly of any use, Peach herself had duties to attend to so it left Mario.

After showing Faith around the rest of the house, Peach and Luigi left Faith in Mario's care for the night.

For the second night in a row Faith had to question her situation. It still didn't seem to be real and she was sure she would wake up from this dream soon enough.


End file.
